


Becoming Like Them

by GakupoMurtagh



Category: X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Depicitons of Torture will get more graphic, hence the teen rating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-24 04:49:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13803759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GakupoMurtagh/pseuds/GakupoMurtagh
Summary: Various mutants were experimented on by Trask aside from those Erik knew by name. But, these experiments had a different agenda. What is the result? And how will Xavier and Hank deal with these psychologically disturbed and unstable abilitied young mutants?





	Becoming Like Them

“I’ll get it, Professor.” Hank walks from the main hall to the front door. Someone was knocking almost frantically. Hank was in no hurry, he was used to such vigor in people’s knocks. Usually it was frantic parents, who were terrified of their children, hoping to find some way to tame what new powers had surfaced or, Hank shutters, it was to forever rid themselves of their different family members. 

It was early in the morning. Early. Probably only a bit past two. Hank and Charles had been discussing a new idea on a section of the curriculum they had been meaning to implement for a while, but that never came to fruition. And depending on what is on the other side of the door, it may never.

He opens the door, “Welcome to-,” his words die in his throat. In front of him was not the scene he had expected. There was a man who was was unhealthily thin, easily passing into the range of anorexic. He had nearly shoulder length grey hair, but he wasn’t old, maybe 19. 

Next to him was a blue devil-looking person with bright yellow eyes. Behind them was a mix-matched group of kids. They all wore what looked like grey bodysuits. But everyone's was tattered. The oldest of the group’s suit was in the worst condition. Him and the blue one were covered in blood. The rest of the kids didn't have any blood on them.

The oldest pushed the door open, moving Hank with it. Even in his frail state, this kid was strong. At the same time, the devil opened the other and all the kids came in, ignoring Hank’s protests. It wasn't that he didn't want them there, it was more he had no idea of what was going on.

The older ones seemed out of it, their stares were blank, they shut the doors behind them and brought the rest of the kids to the center, and that is as far as the two oldest went.

First the oldest dropped, then the devil. Hank rushed over, fearing they were dead. Luckily, they weren’t. Though their breathing was shallow.

“Professor!” He yelled, terrified. It was only upon closer examination did he see these two had open wounds. “Go into that sitting room,” he pointed further into the building. The kids may have not known what he meant, he hadn't paid them enough attention to really be able to tell at the moment, but they followed his directions anyway. 

By now, the Professor had made his way down along with Moira, who happened to be spending the week. She ran over and picked up the devil, as Hank had the oldest. The two went downstairs to their medical “area”. Hank needs a proper name for it, with the Professor turning back to attend to the other mystery children.

*****

Peter snapped awake, a panic overcame him. His eyes hadn’t adjusted yet, all he could see was bright light and metal walls.

Did he not get out? Was that another one of his attempts? What about the other kids? Will he ever be free? What will be the punishment this time?

“Sir, calm down, you’re ok.” He freezes. Who is that? It was a girl, he knew that much. Had they been successful? No, he can’t get hopeful.

He calmed down just enough to let his eyes adjust, he was in a large medical facility, from what he could see. And, no chains. He jumps up, grabs her, he was not taking the risk of her being one of the scientists from the lab. They'd play nice. They'd smile. And then they'd tear open his leg to access his bones. 

She had never expected him to move, and not so fast. She couldn't have reacted in time. He pushed her against the table he had just been on, his hands pressing against her throat.

“Hey! Let go of her!” He knew that voice, it was whoever it was from yesterday. He takes a look around, across from him is Kurt, still passed out. And, no chains.

Had they done it? Had they really done it? 

He lets go of her, she coughs once he does, but he wasn’t holding on too tight, he thinks. He managed to convince himself to refrain from killing her on the spot. Something he knew he could do.

“Who the Hell are you?” That same man, who now was blue and very furry, growls. He is now standing right up in Peter’s face, his yellow eyes boring holes in him.

Peter goes to answer, but hesitates. Will they want his name or his number? No, he's free. Free….. free. “Peter. Peter Maximoff.” He answers.

“I’m Hank, Hank McCoy.” By now, his form had begun to shift back to the same one Peter had first seen. Hank was still very cautious of Peter, because he didn’t hesitate to attack Moira. And Hank still had no idea what this kid could do.

“Now who is he?” Hank points to the other kid, who had begun to stir. 

“His name is Kurt. Kurt Wagner.” Peter responds. Equally monotone as the last answer.

“I know this is a little forward, but we need to know what happened, were you all are from. Are all of these kids your siblings?”

“What? No! I have a sister, twin sister, but I haven’t seen her in years. We came from-,” Peter chokes. He had never told anyone, he had never had to tell anyone. There was emotion in his voice then.

Peter goes quiet, the memories are flooding back. He can’t call them flashbacks, they’re too recent. They don’t need to know. Hank waits, but he figures out Peter won’t say anything else. 

By now, Kurt had woken up, his first few moments were like Peter’s: a panic. However, he stops freaking out as soon as Peter talks to him.  

Hank sighs. “Moria, what should we do?”

“I don’t know! Give them time? Who knows.” she is still rubbing her neck from where he had choked her.

“Here,” he quietly whispers to Moira, before yelling, “you two! Come here!”

Their gazes snap to them. Peter contemplates something before helping Kurt up. This time, Hank had a better chance to look at them. Peter was inherently lean, although still too thin. He had taken nearly 60 I.V’s upon his arrival. He has long legs which are coated in faint scars, along with some on his arms. Despite what may have happened to him, he still stood straight, there was pride, but there was so much pain. 

Kurt was significantly shorter than Peter, he was shorter than Moira. His age was so hard to discern. He was younger than Peter, that much was clear, but there were no other clues to lead to an exact number. He was underweight as well, even his tail was boney.

He looked vaguely familiar, there was someone he had fought before that looked like him… it was a teleporter… Azazel! 

He had the tail, the ears, he might have the powers. However, Kurt had these scars all over him, they were carvings. Self-inflicted, and with a bit of research by Hank while Kurt was asleep, it was proven they were religious. Also, Kurt had six fingers, total. Three on each hand, comparable to only having a thumb, your index and middle fingers taped together along with your ring and pinkie finger taped together. His feet were odd as well, not that Hank ever saw Azazel’s feet, suggesting that was an actual interest of his at the time. But, Azazel did wear shoes, for Kurt, that would not be so comfortable.

The two followed behind, still talking to one another. Hank listened in occasionally. Their conversation was so… introductory. He had figured these two knew each other. Well, he assumed these two knew each other. 

He led them to the professor, who was talking with Alex and Riptide, who he had called to help run the school, especially given the “new arrivals”. Yeah, Riptide. When he was found to still be alive, somehow evading the experimentation, Charles has kept close to him since then. Despite trying to kill them on multiple occasions, none of which recently, he’s fine. Hank took awhile to get used to him, but he is good enough. As long as he doesn’t try to pedal some Anti-Human nonsense, he’s free to be here.

“Hank! Moira! As you can see, Alex and Riptide arrived. What’s wrong with your neck?” Charles cocks his head. It was still red.

“This one is jumpy.” She glares back at Peter, who unapologetically stared back. 

Charles’ brow furrows, “we are not going to hurt you. Even if you hurt us. But, I’m going to talk to you,” he motioned to Peter. Hank found it odd he didn’t say his name. Maybe not to scare him, telepaths pulling personal information seemingly out of nowhere is off-putting for most. Who knew how Peter would react. “Alex will be looking after your group.”

“Of course,” He also motioned for Kurt to follow him, as Charles did the same for Peter.

“What’s his name?” Charles whispers to Hank, right before they part.

“Peter. Haven’t you read his mind?”

“I can’t.”

“What do you mean?” Hank was worried, only other telepaths can prevent the Professor from entering their minds.

“Each time I’ve tried, I can only see a few memories before I get an unbelievable migraine.” Charles answers, he too was worried.

“Maybe he’s a telepath?” Hank offers.

“I’m debating it.” he responds. He then rolls away, Peter following about two feet behind him.

“Kurt, Alex, follow me.” Hank walks out to the other sitting room.

***Charles’ POV***

I must say, this is not what I had expected. I take him into my office, going to behind my desk, offering him a chair on the other side. Hank has showed me the pictures, ones that he collected upon their arrival. Poor kids. I have to be careful. I’ve discovered there is one telepath of the group, it’s not Peter. However, I cannot definitively say he isn’t one. I can’t stay in his mind long enough to find out.

“Hello, I am Charles Xavier. You are in my school for gifted youngsters, mutants like you and I.” I’ll save not saying his name, I’m hesitant to do anything because of what he had done to Moira. Which that action had angered me, but I have to be patient, and a pacifist. “What is your name?”

“Peter Maximoff.” He answers quickly. Maybe he is compliant. I cannot fault him for being scared.

“Well, Peter… Do you know any of the other names of the other kids?”

“No.”

Off to a great start. “Listen, we need to know what happened to you all. It looks like experimentation, I pray it’s not.”

“It is.” He was quick to answer. So, it is… Who would do this? I’ve always asked myself this. These are children. I swallow, where do I go from here? “Do you know who did this? I can assure you, they will pay.”

He tilts his head, “I never saw any names. But, where they kept me was in far higher security that most others here.” He replies.

I sigh, I’ll have to ask the youngsters about things like that, but there are some things I know only he can tell. “What do the x’s on your arm mean? Some have it, some don’t.” Naturally, I’d have assumed it was to classify them as a mutant. But, it is only present on some of them and not on others. Yet they’re all mutants. 

Peter freezes, his breath catches, but he answers, “The large ‘X’ signifies your x-gene was given by a mutant, and not just carried down as a dormant gene. In other words, one or more parents are mutants. And they haven't tampered with it. The small ‘x’.... means they have altered your genetic code, to make that dormant x-gene active… theoretically, you should have the exact same ability as that parent on top of yours.” he mutters the last half. He has a small ‘x’, so does Kurt and a few others.

They can do that? The x-gene can pass down a dormant form from the parents, whilst allowing new mutation? It can be tampered with? What did they do to these kids?

“Do you know where it is?”

“Approximately 300 miles south of here, directly south.” 

I nod, mull some things over, and softly smile. “Thank you, Peter. I am so sorry this happened to you all. They will not get away with it.”

Peter gives me a pained smile he quickly stands up, pulling open the door. I was going to say something, but I decide against it, and watch him disappear behind the door.

I try and read his mind, I search for him. I touch so many minds, all those around me, Alex, Hank, Moira but not him. I can’t say I have enough experience with this happening, I guess I’m spoiled with being near unstoppable. You see, Erik has his helmet, which as far as I’m aware is the only one of its kind, then there’s other telepaths, like Emma. Finally, and what I think he’s done, is he's out of my range. But, we’re talking a few hundred feet, technically speaking. And given the time that has elapsed, he has gotten there beyond quickly. Maybe he’s a teleporter?

 

****Peter’s POV****

Everyone is frozen, it’s so nice to move like this again. We’re free. I don’t want to harp on it, but I can’t shake the feeling I’ll open my eyes one more time and wake up back in that cell, my hands cuffed and bolted to the wall. My knee left inverted, starving away. 

I run back into, what was his name? Charles! I run into Charles’ office. He’s still there, a concerned look on his face. His worry, his care is so… legitimate. Why?

I take a look at his desk, careful… ehhhhhhhhh. Not quite, but I don’t hit him, so that’s all that matters. 

I find something interesting, banknotes and the house paperwork? Sure, close enough. It has been awhile since I last read, I had finished a book before Hank led me to this guy, it was the refresher I needed. 

Reading, reading, reading, memorizing, memorizing and done. 

I take this time to take a proper look around too. This place is massive, to think one person, or maybe one family just lived here. I try to remember my old home. It was small, one story, but to that cell, small closets seem large, like too much room. Though the closet is smaller, I am free to move about them, not chained to one end, the freedom to move to each wall makes them feel so much more distant.

I had my own room, so did my sister. Naturally my mom had her own. A place my sister and I would come running to, should we have wanted attention or were scared. My mother… her memory was about to fade. Is she still where she used to live? Has she been looking for me? 

Stop. Peter, stop. Don’t bother yourself with that now. Just run, go get food. It doesn’t matter if you steal it, they won’t catch me, will they?

***Hank’s POV***

With some coaxing, I get everyone settled. The kids have all huddled together, quietly whispering to one another. Kurt though, he was away from everyone, quietly standing there. “Kurt, can you come here?” I beckon him to the chair across from me. Next to me is Alex and Riptide is next to him. Kurt walks over and sits down, his tail swinging slightly and close to the ground. 

Riptide looks over at him, quickly glances over at him, an odd expression crosses his face, but he turns his attention back to the kids. One thing about Riptide, is that he is very, very quiet. Sure, Azazel wasn’t the most boisterous person on Earth, Shaw didn’t go out of his way to talk, Emma was the loudest, but still coated in class. But god, I have never heard Riptide utter a word, even when he got here, he just bowed his head and gave us a small smile.  

“So, Kurt, I hope you’ll like it here.”

“Danke,” he mutters, he glances up at us. So, he’s German, interesting. German is also a language I don't speak. I traded it for ancient Egyptian when I was in college, and I haven't made an effort to learn it since.

“Where are you from?” 

“Munich.” I can’t blame him for being vague, but dear lord, can someone be specific? An address would be nice. Family names would be a bit better.

“Who were your parents?” 

“I wasn’t really raised by two people. I was in the circus.” His accent is heavy, he probably doesn’t speak a ton of English.

“Adopted?” He looks up at me confused.

“Were you adopted?” I elaborate.

“Ja.” he nods.

“Do you know who your actual parents were?”

He pauses, thinking. I honestly think it was simply translating me. “Nein. No,” he changes.

I really wish I spoke German, this would be so much easier. I can’t say much more, so I go silent, looking at Alex, who just shrugs. 

“Wo sind sie?” After some time of silence he asks that. I was unsure of what he meant at first, but I could figure it out since he was pointing to Alex and Riptide.

“This is Alex Summers and Janos.” He has a last name, but I’m not going to bother. “Can I have some of your blood?” I’m never good with asking this. It always sounds horrible.

“Warum?” He looks horrified. He had moved himself to the other half of his chair, clearly ready to bolt.

“To see what condition you’re in.” He tilts his head. I’m not getting through. “To see if you’re ok.” He seems to settle, not so tense, but he doesn’t move back and still appears worried. 

“They did the same so they could mess with my powers.” He hisses, his tail whipped around slightly. I take it he uses it as a defence mechanism.

“I won’t mess with your powers. I won’t look at them, the blood will tell me just about your health.” 

He sighs, “fine.” I can tell by his glare that he doesn't trust me. 

As creepy as this may seem, I happen to have the needles on me. With so many kids, I had some ready. In case they did something. Some are filled with a tranquilizer. And, some empty ones, in case they were compliant. Like Kurt. Well, he kinda is.

I take it, standing up, turning to Alex, “I’m going to go test this.”

 

***Kurt’s POV***

 

I teleport to the hallway that one man went down. I used a simple excuse to be able to leave, mixed with enough German they couldn't easily understand my reasoning. And didn't care too. Once they let me leave, I teleported as soon as I was behind a wall, and out of their eye and ear shots. That man I'm following isn’t going where I did, but I can listen and find him, and then teleport to him. 

I don’t trust him, not yet. 

I teleport to the lower level, flinching a bit as the cracking echos faintly through the halls. The man didn't even look to see the cause of the sound, and he slips behind a metal door, before I can get to him. 

Of course, I wasn’t going to appear in there looking like this. 

I morph into the man he called “Alex”. I am still learning to use this ability, but as long as I don’t have to do anything too extraneous, he should never know. Not unless he speaks to the real Alex, but we can get to that later.

I quietly mutter some things in his voice, getting used to the flow, mimicking his demeanor, as well as moving my fingers, I have five now, I need to remember I can’t restrict myself to just three.

Done warming up, I knock on the door, I stood out there for so long to help make up for how quick Alex would have to have moved to have gotten here so fast.

That man opens up the door, smiling when he sees “me”, but he is confused. “Alex, aren’t you supposed to be watching the kids?”

I shrug and casually shift my weight, “Janos said he’d do it. I wanted to ask you some things.”

“Sure,” he opens the door for me, I step in. It’s a lab, but the painful memories aren’t triggered, this is just a science lab. There aren't cells, or an operating table, or human body parts.

“So, what were you going to ask?”

“What are we going to do with those kids? I mean, I’m sure we’ll help them, but how?” I carefully monitor my cadence, I can’t begin to speak too quickly. Or mess up on the words. I am very much repeating phrases he had asked other people.

Hank chuckles, “I’m not so sure. We want to give these kids a home, here preferably. But, where to start, Charles will have to figure that out.” He had long since returned to his work. He places the blood in some sort of machine and it processes it. 

Hank then continues, “I mean, I’d like to get blood samples, I won’t look at their abilities, in all honesty I wouldn’t be able to really find their ability unless I had some idea what to look for.”

“Can you take the blood of any mutant, like Charles or these kids, and see their,” I add a slight pause, thinking, “ability?” I have no idea if Charles is a mutant, but since he will be deciding what will happen to us, I’m certain he is.

Hank stands closer to me, I want to back up, I don’t know this man. I don’t like people this close. I’m not used to it. But, Alex would be comfortable near him so I hold my ground and suppress my panic, focusing on what Hank is saying.

“Maybe? You see, like when it comes to Charles what would his blood tell me? I mean, yes it would show there is an active X-gene present but, what else? He’s a telepath, I can’t stick a needle in his brain, not easily. And I sure as Hell am not going to lobotomize him. I think if it’s more of a physical based mutation, like Mystique’s. I haven’t taken enough test samples yet.”

Who is Mystique? And Charles is a telepath, which is someone who can read minds, I believe. What is lobotomizing? I have so many questions. 

I tilt my head, someone is in the hallway, approaching. “Well, I said I’d only be gone for a bit,” I smirk, looking up at the clock, it’s been nearly 20 minutes, I hope they don’t freak out since I’ve been gone so long.

Hank glances up at the clock too, “of course, sorry.” 

“Don’t be,” I say over my shoulder, opening the door and waiting for it to close. I realize the walking was in the hallway above, but it is best I am careful. I quickly find I can’t teleport looking like him, so I change back. I teleport back into the hallway I left from. I make sure I’m back to how I should be, before walking up.

Alex looks up at me, “there you are. Why were you gone so long?” He isn’t scolding me, but he is close.

“Panikanfall.” I mutter, going back to my seat. I’m certain he doesn’t know German. And, I take it I’m right, as he rolls his eyes and goes back to reading.


End file.
